THE CRIMSON

Crimson Soul - Enuf Sed

Wigan

"I was in a group in the sixties but you, and I suspect nobody else, will remember us. We started off as 'The Crimson', later changed to, "Crimson Soul," and finally ended up as, "Enuf Sed." The last name was very appropriate!

We had William Leyland of L.E. Agencyas an agent after doing an audition at a club in New Springs, Rev. Black and the Rocking Vicars were headlining that night so you can imagine just how nervous we were! We also had another agent in Manchester but I can't remember his name. We very rarely got bookings in the Wigan area, rather we'd end up in places like New Brighton, Manchester and the worst of all, a youth club in Barrow in Furness! That required an afternoon off work so the whole deal cost us money! We were never really brilliant but for a time we had a lot of fun. Eventually girlfriends and jobs became more important and the dream of stardom, never a real possibility, faded.

Wigan Casino..

I've just been on LANKY BEAT and was reading your article about your old band, 'The Shyms.' You mention the Wigan Casino boss, Gerry Marshall, well he was my cousin.

I was brought up believing that Gerry Marshall was my uncle, at least that was how he was described to me. It turned out that he was actually my cousin, although many years my senior. He was a strange bloke, I remember being taken to visit him at his home on Ormskirk Road when I was a small child. He had a couple of German Shepherds that frightened me to death, a fact that he thought was terribly funny. I wasn't impressed.

When I was in my teens my dad went working for him at The Casino Club, during the day he was a janitor/handyman and at night helped out backstage and called himself a stage manager, my mum also worked in the cloakroom for a while. He used to bring home the packs of used playing cards from the Casino and my sister and I would sell them off cheap as they were still in good nick! As an aside he fitted a new toilet for the visit of Shirley Bassey, now that is a class act! We also used to get signed photos of the artists but they're long gone unfortunately.

Anyway, when I turned 18, 'Uncle' Gerry sent me a complimentary ticket for the Casino as a birthday present. Later the same year my sister got married and held her reception in the Casino. We had the meal etc. in the club during the afternoon and most of the guests stayed for the entertainment during the evening. Gerry came up to me late on during the night and told me that I'd have to leave, the reason? I wasn't 18! I had to hurriedly get my dad to convince him that I was. I didn't see him much after that and my dad left his employ some time later, I don't know whether it was by mutual consent or not. In fact I only saw Gerry once more before he died and that was at my dad's funeral in 1976."Eddie Marshall: March 2010